Kung Fu Panda: A New Hero
by Benjaman King
Summary: What happens when a human ends up in ancient China? What adventures and challenges must he face? Meet Ben, a man who's life is broken and is given a second chance to start over. Heading down a road to reclaim a new life and face his past to do so. And maybe even become... a hero.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello and welcome reader. Let me begin by saying that this is my first fanfic so I'll do my best to try and keep you entertained as well as I can. Thanks for taking the time to read my fanfic and I hope you enjoy it!**

_Chapter 1: The arrival _

All I could see was darkness, then again that's all you usually see when your eyes are closed, anyway, I wasn't asleep that's for sure. It's like I'm awake but not awake, does that make sense? No? Well I don't know how else to describe it! I feel awake but I can't open my eyes. Christ, how did this happen?! All I can recall was me stumbling home after a night of drinking, passed out and then...this! When I tried to move I couldn't. Oh great, another thing to add to the list of crap I seem to be incapable of doing! Wait..I can't move, my eyes won't open and all I see is darkness.. you don't think I'am in a coma do you? Oh god, next thing you know I'll be waking up during a zombie epidemic but I'm sure I'm getting off track here. My questions and confusion were halted by a strange alluring sound that I was unable to see. So let me paint the picture, darkness, can't move blah, blah, blah and now there's an unfamiliar sound emanating from somewhere. I don't think you can blame me for..crapping myself. I tried calling out but I couldn't speak. 'Oh this is bad, this is really bad!' I thought.

The sound began to become intense and sounded like it was getting closer.

'Oh sweet mother of God, what the hells happening!' I thought panicky.

Now I started to really get frightened. It sounded so freaking close and I was seriously close to having a heart attack or something..but then the sound faded? It got close to my ear and yeah, it just seemed to have...faded.

'What ever the hell that was, I hope it's-'

My thought was interrupted by unwelcoming, bold voices.

'It is you' it spoke inside my mind. It. Just. SPOKE! Oh dear Christ, what in the name of everything that's unholy. 'It' was the only way to describe whatever the hell this was. It sounded like several voices overlapping one another so it was rather difficult to determine its gender. Perhaps it was both? But right now I couldn't give a rats ass.

'W-who, who the hell are y-you?!' I said panicky in my mind.

'It' offered no response to my question but instead just continued from where it left off.

'You are the one. You are the one chosen. To fulfill your destiny'

'Destiny? Chosen? What are you talking about and who the hell are you? What the hell is all this?!'

My outburst went ignored as 'It' just became silent. A short moment past as I felt my fingers twitch and I began to get back the feeling in my eyes. They fluttered open halfway then immediately widened to the sight before me. I wish I could say I was looking at my apartment, I really would, but that was not the case. I wasn't even lying in my bed. In fact I don't think I was lying down at all, or standing. I seemed to be floating in...space? Yeah, space or something along the lines of that. The sky was coated in a variety of different colors but the colors that stood of from the rest were red, blue and green and frankly, it was quite a beautiful sight.

Why do I seem so calm describing my surroundings? Because now I know this isn't a dream. It's a nightmare. It had to be! It feels like I'm awake but this can't be real. I mean come on that's jus-

"Now, go"

I gasped when I saw the sky flicker as it spoke. The sky was speaking to me?! But...how..what the hell..ughh. I began to feel a little strange almost...woozy.

I was completely unprepared for what happened next. The most accurate way to describe it was me being flung at about oh...let's say 100mph in downward direction. I panicked, screamed and pretty much anything else you'd do in a frightening situation, I kept falling until eventually the colorful sky started to fade and everything became blank white and not before long I blacked out.

"Uhhh...Jesus Christ" I moaned aloud. God damn my whole body felt like it was hit by a wrecking ball.

With whatever strength I could gather, I pushed against the ground with all my might trying to push myself up. Unfortunately, my body failed me and collapsed back to the cold ground.

'I don't remember it being so cold inside of my apartment' I thought. My eyes shot open only to be introduced to the sight of snow raining down from the night sky...wait a second.

My eyes widened as I began to pivot my head left and right quickly as I left out a gasp.

I was no longer in my apartment. I was no longer in the street of where I lived. I was in god knows where.

'No, no, no, no this isn't real il-l wake up any second now this will all just be a dream'

I began furiously rubbing my eyes in hope that this was all my imagination. But dear God, it felt so real. The cold, the snow. NO! It couldn't be real! It makes no sense. How is this possible?!

My breaths became shaky as I shook my head in disbelief. All this must be the result of a nightmare or..something! There's just-this CAN'T be real.

I began looking around once again. Nothing seemed familiar. I appeared to be in on a road or a path that was beginning to become a blanket of snow. I was unable to see further beyond it due to the condition of the weather. The snow itself was coming down furiously due to the fact that it was joined by a large gush of harsh wind. I shuddered at how cold it was becoming.

'I need to find someone or something and figure out what the hell's going on' I thought. I pushed against the ground once again except this time I managed to get to my feet and began to follow the path with my arms wrapped around myself.

I'm not sure how long I've been walking but during that time my mind was buried in deep thought. So many questions were clouding my mind. The last thing I remember was passing out in my apartment. So why was I outside? Maybe I didn't get inside my apartment. Even if I didn't, why was it snowing in the middle of summer?!

I slowly raised my head with my eyes squinted trying to see beyond the snowy mist. I felt my heart leap to sight of a faint light in the distance.

'Oh thank God' I thought as quickened my pace.

The faint light started to become more and more clear until soon enough it was joined by more rays of light. I just hope they're coming from a house in a village or town, somewhere I could take shelter.

I was now near what appeared to be a town of some sort. I couldn't see much so entered the town in hope that someone would take me in. The lights that I had seen earlier turned out to be...hanging lanterns? Yeah that's definitely what they were, there seemed to be hanging over a different number of houses and they looked Chinese. Now I knew I definitely wasn't anywhere near where I lived. Did I end up in Chinatown or something?

I approached what looked like a small house. It's windows and doors seemed to have a Chinese decor with that curved roof that most Chinese buildings usually have. Light was shinning through the windows and the door.

After standing outside the house for a short while, I heard what sounded like snow crunching. I turned only to see an approaching figure making its way towards the house I was now next to.

I quickly hid behind the corner of the house and waited to see who was approaching. I peeked around the corner and saw figure step into the light that was provided from the lanterns above. What I saw next left me in complete shock.

Ether my brain wasn't processing what I was seeing correctly or...I'm seeing a...pig walking on two legs.

My eyes widened and my mouth was opened ajar. Im sorry did see that right? A pig walking on two legs? Walking-two legs-moving like a human? WHAT?!

No words or any logic could sum up any more than how I just described it. No matter how many amount of times I blinked the image remained the same. I mean a pig is walking like a HUMAN? This is just..fricking nuts! I was seriously in shock at what I was seeing.

I shook my head trying to stay focused. Not only was he walking he seemed to be wearing clothes. He was wearing a cap of some sort. He was also wearing a lime green robe with black trimmings. He knocked on the door then began to blow air into his hooves and then shuddered. Shortly after the door opened. But there didn't seem to be anyone th-

"Huan, what are doing here? the snows coming down like crazy out there!"

My eyes lowered and introduced to the sight of a small rabbit wearing a brown vest that covered his torso and lower body greeting the pig at the door. Not only is there now a rabbit standing on two feet but it just SPOKE ENGLISH! No person alive could be able to comprehend what was just transpiring.

"I just around to give you this back" replied the pig as he handed the rabbit what appeared to be a ring. "you left it behind the other day"

The rabbit inspected to ring before he said "Oh thank god, I was wondering where that was, the wife would kill me If she found it this was missing" he then took the ring. "Come on inside, you must be freezing" he stepped beside and the pig enter the rabbits home, after he shut the door behind him.

I placed my back against the wall slowly sliding to the ground. I...I couldn't believe what I've just witnessed. Was my eyes playing tricks? Was it all my imagination? It had to be, this couldn't be real!

I just sat there trying to process what was happening. I felt a little lightheaded and felt like I was gonna faint or get sick or something. I wasn't sure what I was suppose to do now. It was still snowing like hell and it was fricking freezing. Was I really gonna ask talking rabbit or pig for shelter? How would they react to a human? Wait...what if there are humans here? I couldn't go around around to every house, knocking on every door expecting to find another human. God, I don't know what to do.

I think I was sitting here too long as I was beginning to became buried beneath the snow. I got to my feet and blew into my hands once again. I stood there freezing my ass off. Just then out of know where I heard a loud commotion coming from further in the town. After pondering wether or not to proceed into town, I went with my gut and began to investigate where the sound was coming from.


	2. Chapter 2

_Chapter 2: a place to rest your head_

I was now approaching what I assumed was the centre of town, eventually the sound I heard earlier began to became more clearer to hear. So clear that the sound of something being broken ran through my eardrums.

'What the hell?' I thought as I began to guide my way through the blizzard towards the strange sounds.

Though the blizzard I could make out a very bright ray of light coming from a building just up ahead. As I started to approach the building I began to make out voices.

"Just great! First it begins to snow like hell so we can't get out of here. Then you two show up and make things worse!" echoed voice from the building.

As I got closer I noticed the door the the building was left open. I pressed my back up against wall next to the door and peaked in only to witness a strange sight.

Inside there appeared to be a tall bird wearing a straw hat and blue pants. It's neck was black and his body was white. His wings were also white except at the tip were it change to a grey to black color. Beside it there was a green snake with a black pattern on the top half of its back while the other half was a brown pattern and a black tail. It had what looked like two lotus flowers on it's head. Beyond them stood a cougar wearing a blue vest, black pants and was holding large battle age. It's fur was a light brown color with a light tan pattern on its head. On both sides of him there was a wolf and a cheetah. The wolf was wearing a black tunic, black pants and was holding a curved sword. His fur was a dark grey color with a hint of black. The cheetah wore a brown vest with sleeves along with brown pants and was dual wielding daggers. He looked like how any cheetah would look like except for a scar running down his mouth. Looking around inside there was a variety of items from food to everyday supplies. Most were set on display so I would assume this was a general store of something. The shop keeper looked like a duck peeking over the counter.

"Really, Juan? This again? I thought we told you to never come back here" said the tall avian.

The cougar, who I assumed was the one called Juan, replied "Oh shut up you stupid bird, you don't tell us what to do!"

"We already took one of you out. So just make it easier on yourselves and give up now" said the snake and by her voice I assumed was female.

The cougar growled. "and we especially don't get told what to do by some little bitch" the cougar spat back.

The snake hissed. She then suddenly leapt into the air and brought her tail down hard smashing the cougars head into the ground. A loud echo ran through the shop as his axe hit the ground.

The cougar groaned as his companions sprung into action. They began to swing their weapons wildly at the bird and snake. The snake and bird however began to parry their attacks. Constantly ducking, Dodging and attacking.

While the fight continued I heard what sounded like a faint moan coming from further inside the shop. My eyes darted right to the site of a table broke in two with a broken vase with flowers and soil on the ground. But what really caught my eye was another wolf picking himself up from between the broken table clenching his head and then shook it. He looked the same as the other wolf except his clothing was different. He was wearing a light grey vest with sleeves and black silk paints with a waist wrap. He appeared to have a quiver on his back. His eyes locked with the bird and snake. He bent down and began to pick something from the ground. He raised his arm to reveal a bow in his hand. I gasped as began to remove and arrow from his quiver and raised his bow and began to ready the arrow on the string on the bow

'Shit, what should do!?' I thought in panic. If I didn't do something the snake or bird could be killed!. Should I just jump in and help them? It would seem like the right thing to do , but these guys are armed to the teeth and I'm not exactly a black belt in karate. Dammit what to I do!? The thought of leaving someone for dead didn't exactly sit right with me, so there was only one option. I just know I'm going to regret this.

I took a deep breath and rushed in. I sprinted towards the wolf as he readied to fire only the tilt his head towards me. I leapt towards him locking my arms around him as we both began descending to the ground. But not before his arrow released.

"Look out!" I warned the duo. The bird spun around only to duck and his hat impaled and stuck to the wall behind him. He then turned back to me and we both stared at one other.

But not for long as I was tossed over the wolf and he scurried to his feet and began to look me over in confusion. I quickly got to my feet and faced him.

He growled as he raised his fists. "You really think you can take me? Let's see how tough you really are, freak!" he taunted.

I raised my fists and readied myself.

'Was this seriously happening right now?' I thought.

My answer; a punch to the face.

'Guess so'

I threw a punch back catching the wolf right in the nose hard. As he began to clench in nose in pain, I quickly began to throw punches to his sides which were left open and then gave a hard kick to the gut. The wolf wheezed but quickly recovered and wildly began to punch, lashing out furiously. Only managing to block a few punches but he eventually landed a hit to my chest. I stumbled back coughing. As he raised his fist preparing for a finishing blow, but before he could I grabbed his paw and twisted his arm, kicking the back of his leg bringing to his knees. I then wrapped my arm his neck holding him down as he began kicking and attempting to pull my arm from around his neck but his actions were futile as his struggle soon became weaker until I eventually the hold knocked him unconscious.

As I removed my arm from his neck, his body cell forward colliding to the ground with a loud thud. I wiped my lip gathering some blood as I did so.

"Wow, you handled yourself pretty well" came a voice from behind me and sounded like the bird. I turned to face the bird and snake. Behind them were the wolf, cheetah and cougar lying on the ground moaning in pain.

"Um..thanks" was all I could say. Honestly, I wasn't sure what else to say.

"It's not often someone would throw themselves like that into danger. That was quite brave of you" commented the snake.

"Well, I wasn't just gonna let him kill one of you" I replied.

The avian turned and pulled his hat off the wall and removed the arrow from it. "Glad you came in when you did, otherwise this arrow wouldn't have just gone through my hat" he said as he threw the arrow aside and place his hat back on his head.

The snake turned to the shop keeper "are you alright, miss?" she asked concerned.

The duck rose from behind the counter and replied "I'am now. Oh thank you, thank you so much"

"Looks like it's off to prison for you guys" the bird said looking down at cougar.

"Oh screw y-" the cougar was cut off as the snake brought her tail down once again knocking him out.

After the situation was dealt with, the bird and snake alerted the local authorities, or guard in this case, and they arrived take the four...bandits I guess you could call em, to prison.

The guards were mostly rhinos. Their clothing consisted of a green and red shirt with a brown belt. They were equipped with spears.

While they were putting the bandits in shackles, another feline entered the building. He had a average build and was quite tall. He wore slightly more armour than the rhinos. His fur was a jet black colour. I would guess that he was a panther.

"They will be kept in cells overnight and then will be brought to Chorh-Gom first thing in the morning" the panther explained.

"Alright, thanks you" the snake replied.

The panther smiled. "If anyone should be thanked, it should be you. Goodnight masters" he bowed slightly before turning and leaving.

"Guess we should head back up to the Jade Palace" the bird said to the snake before turning to me, "and thanks again. Pretty sure I wouldn't be standing here if you didn't step in"

"Um..no problem" I replied

"I hope you can get home safely in this weather" said the snake.

"I don't think I'll be getting home anytime soon" I replied in an almost hushed tone.

The snake cocked her head."What do you mean?" she asked.

"I'm..not from around here" I replied.

"You just arrived into town?" the avian asked. I just nodded in response.

"And you have nowhere to stay?" the snake added. I nodded once again in response.

The bird and snake shared a glance and didn't say anything until they turned back to me.

"Well considering the circumstances, we could bring you back up to the Jade palace and maybe you could spend the night" the bird said.

"It's better than sleeping outside" the snake added with a cheery smile.

I don't have a choice really. Well I do but I doubt I'm too keen on becoming a snowman. This felt strange though. Don't think anyone's ever offered this much kindness to me before, and the fact that it's coming talking animals just makes this all feel just so unreal. And why shouldn't it? I'm pretty sure if I explained to someone what happened in the last hour or so, they'd have put a mental hospital.

I shook my head slightly trying to focus on realty.

"Well I don't really have anywhere else to go. Thank you" I replied.

"Come on then, We'll lead the way. Try to stay close" the snake said as she and the bird turned to leave but turned she back once more "By the way my name is Viper and that's Crane" she said gesturing her tail towards the bird.

"I'm Ben. It's nice to meet you" I replied.

So we left the store and began to push through the snowy blizzard. I had no idea where I was going so I stuck close to the snake and b- well Viper and Crane, as they led me towards the 'Jade palace' which I assumed where we were going since Crane had mentioned returning there after the bandits had been dealt with. We eventually came to a set of steps that I couldn't really see where it led due to the snow.

"It gonna be quite a climb, I hope your ready" Viper said but with a raised voice so I could hear her more clearly. I merely just nodded with a shiver as we began to climb the steps. And climbed and climbed and, yep you guessed it climbed. I swear it felt like that part in super Mario 64 when you try to climb the stairs to get to the last level but don't have enough stars.

I mental slapped myself. I mean, really? That the first thing that came to mind? Not 'how far?' or 'I hope we get arrive there soon.' I'm such an idiot. But seriously we've been climbing these steps for so long, I think I'm gonna get frost bite or something.

"Alright we're almost there" Viper said.

Well speak of the devil. We finally reached the top of the steps. I began to breath heavily. The cold was entering and exiting my mouth fast.

"We better head to the training hall and see of master Shifu is still there" Crane said to Viper.

"Alright let's go then" she replied.

I hadn't a clue who this 'Shifu' guy was. Maybe the guy who owns this place? So we continued to walk for a short while up more steps and walked a large building which appeared to have columns with golden dragons looped around each one. I could go on to greater detail about the building but the weather wasn't exactly making it easy to see. Eventually after walking for a while we reached another building. We came face to face with two large wooden doors. When we enter I was greeted to a walled courtyard and equipment scattered around as well as numerous plants. There also seemed to be a a tree on the right side of the courtyard. We climbed the steps that led into the building and I followed behind as Crane and Viper open the doors to reveal what was inside. There seems to be strange looking equipment or devices inside. The closest to me looked like logs shaped like a serpent on the ground with hanging wooden clubs hanging above them. One side of each club was a blunt side while the other was imbedded with spikes. Beyond that there looked like what seemed the be a large green bowl that resembled a turtles shell as there seemed be tiny arms and feet on it. Ahead of that stood studded, wooden dummies. There were all aligned and there were four rows of them. They also appeared to have numerous arms coming out of them. And beyond that there a small, squared metal floor with holes on it. I was unsure what it was. And finally hanging from the ceiling the appeared to be hanging rings spread out so one could...swing on them I suppose. What was most noticeable though was that most of the equipment was in use. On the logs that seemed to spin there was a tiger leaping from one to the other while avoiding the clubs that continuously began to swing back and forth. The tiger appeared to be female. She was wearing a red vest with golden vine pattern on it and it had black trims. She also wore black silk pants with a waist wrap and what looked like footpads. She looked like...well a tiger. Not much else I could say except I was surprised to see a tiger so up close without it trying to hunt me down. But seeing how animals act around here, maybe she'll be friendly like Viper or Crane. There seemed to be something passing quickly through the wooden dummy's by it was hard to see what. How I could make out was a small green blur flying past the dummies causing their arms to spin rapidly. The rings hanging from the ceiling by being used my a monkey. He was swinging from one to another and managed to squeeze through one with ease. His fur was a light tan colour and his face, hands and feet were black. He wore no top but striped brown pants and brown wrist bracers. But there was another animal here as well. It was small looking...raccoon thing standing by the wooden logs that the tiger was using and seemed to be watching the other animals. Its appearance, however seem to resemble a red panda. It was holding what looked like a stick or flute behind its back. It wore a orange and brown robe. Much like its robe, it's fur was orange and brown except it was white as well. If I were to guess I would assume that he was this 'Shifu' guy. I don't he's a raccoon though.

"I'll go and tell him about what's going on" Crane explained. I watched as he approached the small panda as he stop and balled up one wing and placed into into the other and bowed. "Master Shifu" he spoke up.

The small panda turned and faced Crane before replying.

"You have returned. I assume the matter in the village has been dealt with?" he asked with a raised brow.

"Yes, master. But may I speak with you a moment" Crane replied

Before Shifu replied he turned his head and his eyes locked onto me. "Who is this" he asked rather sternly.

"That's what I wanted to talk about. If we could.." Crane replied raising his wing, gesturing to move a little further from us. The small panda walked with Crane further from the equipment and from me and Viper and began to listen to Crane explain what was going on.

I sat down next to the door as I began to catch my breath.

"I take it you're not used to climbing that many steps" Viper asked slithering up next to me.

"No. And just thinking about how many steps there were is going to give me nightmares" I replied

Viper chuckled and we both watched the conversation taking place between Crane and Shifu.

"Listen I...really appreciate you taking me in like this" I said.

She smiled " Of course, it wouldn't have been right just to have left you there. Besides I think you've earned it for saving Cranes life. Not many people would throw themselves into a dangerous situation like that. That was heroic of you"

"I'm just glad your friend is okay" I replied. "Who were those guys anyway"

Viper rolled her eyes "Just some lowlifes who believe themselves to be bandits. More of a nuisance really. They started threatening some of the villagers, every time we show up they take off running in the opposite direction"

"With those moves you pulled off, I'm not surprised" I said.

She smiled once again "You weren't too bad yourself" she replied

"I'm no martial artist, but I know how to handle myself" I stated.

As we continued to converse, we were soon approached by the monkey that was swinging on the rings but there also seemed to be a tiny green bug and his shoulder. If I were to guess, I would say he was a praying mantis. He must have been to green blur dashing passed the wooden dummies.

"Hey Viper, did you bring back one of the bandits for interrogation or something?" the mantis asked.

"No Mantis, he's not a bandit. This is Ben. He helped us deal with the bandits and even saved Cranes life" Viper replied.

"Wait, really? What the heck happened down there?" he asked.

"Well when Crane and I arrived down at the valley the bandits from last time were there. They were trying to rob the general store, but we both stepped in and Crane threw Dao through table and thats when hell broke loose. We tried get them to surrender but they tried to fight us instead. While we were busy fighting, Dao recovered and was ready to fire an arrow in the back of Cranes head. That's where Ben stepped in. He took down Dao and his arrow missed Cranes head by inches. After we finished dealing with them, we alerted the guards, they came and took them to the cells at the barracks" Viper explained.

"Damn, nice going man. Thanks for saving Cranes ass" the small bug said.

"Heh yeah, no problem" I replied.

"So why did you bring him up here?" the monkey asked Viper.

"He just arrived in the valley and has no place to stay. I figured we could ask Master Shifu of he could spend the night" Viper replied.

"I'm not sure Master Shifu is going to be keen on turning this place into a bed and breakfast" Mantis said, obviously joking.

"Come on Mantis, I'm sure Master Shifu wouldn't be that heartless as to turn him away, especially after what he did" the monkey said to the small green bug.

"I suppose. And it is just for the night so I guess he might be on board" Mantis said averting his gaze. We followed his gaze which was set upon Crane and Shifu.

My eyes fell upon the tiger, who still seemed to be using the equipment. For a brief moment she peeked over her shoulder and examined me, before ignoring me and continuing using the equipment.

When I turned back to the conversation taking place between the two animals, it soon ended and they began to walk over to us. When they did the tiger leaped off the spinning logs and stood beside the small panda with her arms behind her back. One thing noticed was the expression on her face it was rather...stern and almost emotionless. And honestly it was kinda..frightening.

The small panda cleared his throat before speaking "Crane has informed me what has occurred down at the valley. He has also told me you have just arrived in the valley and currently have to place to spend the night. Given the circumstances, I suppose we could allow you to spend the night here" he said.

"Um, thank you sir" I replied.

"Now if you'll follow the rest, they will bring to the barracks where you will be sleeping. I would like you to be up in the morning when to morning with the rest when gong is rung. Do you understand?" he asked.

"Yeah, sure" I replied.

"Good. Now I suggest you all proceed to the barracks and get some sleep" he said before turning and leaving.

So we left as well and headed for the barracks which was and battled through the harsh weather once more and eventually arrived at our destination.

"Damn, didn't know the weather was THAT bad" Mantis said shivering.

"At least we're out of it now" Monkey had said heading inside the building (he had told me his name when we were heading towards the barracks)

"Well, goodnight guys" Mantis said heading to into his room I'd assume. Soon after the rest of them headed to different rooms except for Viper.

"Come on I'll show you which room you'll be staying in" She said slithering down the hall. I followed her and she lead me to the room opposite to the tigers. She open the doors the revel what was inside. The room was quite small and and very little in it. There was a small bed with a set of drawers next to it. On the drawers there was an unlit candle with a box of matches next to it.

"Thank you, Viper" I said.

She smiled once again "No problem. Goodnight" she said heading back down the hall to her own room.

I headed inside and closed the doors behind me. I sat on the bed and I rubbed face before resting it on my forehead. I was lost for words. Everything that happened today just...just God I don't even know how to begin. My mind was still not convinced that all this was real. Talking animals? I mean did I really see talking animals? I laid down on the bed and stared up at the ceiling with my mind trying to figure out if all this was real or not. I sighed and closed my eyes.

'Hopefully I'll wake up and this will all be a dream' I thought has I began to drift off the sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

_Chapter 3: your training begins _

I started hearing my name being called through my mind, like an echo in a hallway. My eyes began to open slowly and the image of an unfamiliar room came into view.

"Hey Ben. Ben! Come on get up man" I heard a familiar voice. It sounded like...Mantis's.

I brought my hands to my face and grunted slightly. Im still here? God, it wasn't a dream. There really is talking animals! Either that, or I've gone insane.

I sat up and stretched my arms. I yawned and got up and turned to see Monkey and Mantis by the door. Mantis was once again on Monkeys shoulder. I rubbed my eyes and approached them.

"Shifu wasn't too pleased when you didn't get up for the morning gong" Monkey said.

"Sorry, I was really tired" I replied in an apologetic tone.

"Come on let's go get breakfast. Hopefully Viper has finished making it" Mantis said as Monkey turned to leave and I followed behind.

When we stepped outside I shielded my eyes from the morning sun. Defiantly a more preferable weather than last nights. It was much easier to see and my god, what a sight. We were so high up and the sight was just...beautiful. High mountains with the buildings standing proud with the sun shining down on the mountain causing a warm feeling to grow inside me. Despite the sun out shining, there was still a bitter cold out. Eventually reach another building which was probably the kitchen. A sweet aroma filled the air as we entered the building. When reach a set of doors a looked into to see what was inside. The kitchen had a table with chairs set around it and the tiger and Crane seemed to be sitting down eating two different types of food. The tiger seemed to be eating what looked like small, cubed pieces of tofu or something like that with a pair of chopsticks. Crane on the other hand was eating something out of a bowl with a spoon. From the aroma I few minutes ago I would assume it was porridge, which I love. To the right, I saw Viper by a stove. She was stirring something in a pot, probably the porridge.

Viper turned and noticed us and smiled "Hey guys. Grab a bowl and I'll pour some porridge in" she said reaching for a ladle. I noticed four bowls on counter next to the stove. Mantis jumped off Monkeys shoulder and onto the counter. He picked up a bowl and Viper poured in some porridge.

"Maybe you won't try to poison me this time" Mantis joked, which in response, Viper shot him daggers and hissed. He then headed to the table at an incredible speed. Most likely to try and avoid getting his ass kicked. Monkey then grabbed a bowl and Viper pour him some porridge. He inhaled through his nose taking the smell from his bowl and smiled.

"Oh that smells incredible. Thanks Viper" he said before heading to the table. And finally I grabbed a bowl and Viper poured porridge in it. I could already feel the bottom of the bowl heating up as the smell entered my nostrils.

"Thank you Viper" I said as I joined the rest at the table. Shortly afterwards Viper filled a bowl for herself and sat beside Crane. As we started eating, Mantis, immediately after one spoonful, sighed.

"Nothing like the food on the Winter feast" he said, with sadness in his voice. I then saw Monkey roll his eyes while Viper seemed rather annoyed.

"Same thing ever year" she mumbled.

"I can't help it! Every year it comes around with food so tasty, you could just cry. I swear I can hear it taunting me right now" he said.

"It's been two weeks since the feast, just move on and wait till next year" Crane said.

"What's the 'winter feast'?" I asked confused.

Mantis, Crane and Viper turned towards with bewildered Expressions. I was kinda regretting asking that question.

"Wait, you've never heard of the Winter feast? The Holiday where every master from every province, gather for a big feast?" Mantis asked, almost surprised that I've never heard of this feast. I merely just shook my head.

"Wow, you're really not from here are you? You must have lived really far away of you've never heard of the Winter feast" Crane said, as he continued to eat his porridge.

"So how far away are you from home?" Viper asked

"I'm..not sure. Where I'm I exactly?" I asked.

"Well right now you're in the Jade Palace which is in the Valley of Peace" she said. I raised a brow in confusion. "South of Chongqing?" I still had confusion plastered on my face. "Um...China?" my eyes widened. C-C-China! Oh my God! I'm in fricking China! How the hell did I get here?! Mother of God, first there's taking animals, now I'm not even in my own country. I feel...strange.

"Hey Ben, you okay? Surely Vipers cooking isn't that bad" Mantis said, Viper then proceeded to smack him in the back of the head.

"I'm..fine, just surprised I travelled to far" I replied

"You looked like you were gonna vomit or something. You sure it wasn't-" Mantis was about to finish his sentence until he saw Vipers tail hovering over his head "Uh..never mind"

"Yeah, don't worry I'm good" I said, trying my best not to look too suspicious.

"Well if you say so. Anyway we should head to the training hall now. And you should come to Ben. Master Shifu would like to speak with you" Crane said, as he got up to leave. The rest followed and I came behind last. So we started heading towards the training hall and was deep in my thoughts while the rest conversed.

"I wasn't sure what was going on anymore. This clearly wasn't a dream. But how is all this real? Talking animals? Bloody hell. And to make things more insane I'm halfway across the world! Like my life couldn't get anymore messed up. The only up side to all this was it was keeping me distracted from-"

I shook my head trying not to think about..everything that's happened before. As long as I just don't think about it, everything will be fine. We eventually reached the training hall and the sound a music filled the air. When we entered the courtyard, we saw Shifu sitting with his legs crossed under the tree playing a flute. His playing ceased as his eyes laid upon us.

"Proceed inside and begin your training. I would like to speak to our guest" he said.

While the rest went inside, I was left alone with Shifu and for some reason I felt rather nervous.

"You failed to get up when I had asked" he said, rising up from his sitting position and placed his hands behind his back.

I lowered my head slightly "Sorry about that" I apologized

He then began to role the back and forth with fingers "Do you know why I had asked you to get up with the others?" he asked

I thought for a short moment before shaking my head "Sorry, no" I replied.

"I was testing to see if you could do it and I can see that you failed" he said, rather harshly.

"You were testing me? Why?" I asked.

"Last night Crane had informed me of how you were able to deal with one of the bandits. He said that you handled yourself pretty well. And seeing how you just arrived in the valley, I had wondered if we could make your staying here more permanent" he replied.

"You mean staying here and becoming a fighter?" I asked

"Precisely. I could train you as I've trained the others. You could become warrior trained in the ways of Kung fu, who can be depended by the defenseless. But traveling down this road will not be easy, it requires a high level of disciple, patience, focus and determination" he said. I have to admit the idea of becoming a Kung fu warrior sounded pretty awesome and place to stay didn't sound to bad ether, but the requirements...did I have all those things? Maybe I do and just haven't found out. Then again, waking up late seems to prove otherwise, but still it guess it wouldn't hurt to try. I just hope I don't mess up. Don't think I can endure more-

I shook my head once more reminding myself to try not to think about..everything.

"Well...I suppose there's no harm in trying" I finally replied.

"A smart decision. Very few are given the chance to train at the Jade palace. Now come with me" he said, turning and began walking into the training hall. I followed as we both stepped inside to see the rest training. Like before, the tiger was at the spinning logs, Mantis was at dummies and Monkey was swinging on the rings. But with the addition of Crane on the green bowl shaped like a turtle and Viper on..wow. Well now I know what the metal pipes were. Viper was avoiding flames that were rising up from the pipes and seemed to be doing a pretty good job.

"I would like to see how to fare in battle firsthand" Shifu said as he approached the guys and snapped his fingers. When he did, they all rushed to him and stood in a straight line in front of him "Proceed outside" he said as he turned and left the hall. The others followed as I did as well. When we got outside they others all formed in a straight line.

"Ben, stand here" Shifu said, pointing beside him in front of the others. I did so and Shifu then walked and stood beside his students.

"Monkey" he said as he snapped his fingers. When he did, Monkey leaped forward and took position in front of me.

"Ready yourselves" Shifu said. Monkey then took up a fighting stance. I then took up a stance as well

"Begin" Shifu said.

Immediately after Shifu said that, Monkey leaped forward and stretched out his right leg, striking my face with his foot. I stumbled back and held my nose in pain. But I quickly held out my arm as Monkey swung his and blocked it.

'Huh, maybe I do I have a chance'

Monkey then grabbed my arm and twisted it, when he did, it caused be to bend forward. Monkey then struck my face once again with his foot.

'Okay, maybe not'

It seemed no matter how hard I try, I just can't seem to land a hit. Eventually Monkey threw jabs into my chest, then proceeded to roundhouse kick me in the head. I fell to the ground in pain. I sat up, rubbing one hand on my head.

Shifu shook his head slightly and let out a hush groan "I somehow believe that luck was on your side when you were dealing with the bandit. I had expected a better effort" he said, with a harsh tone. I sighed and lowered my head slightly "I want you to try again. Crane" he said, snapping his fingers. Crane then took position in front of me, as I got up and took up a defensive position "Begin!" Shifu announced, Crane flew into the air as I watched as he circled me, he then swooped down and tried to strike me with his right wing but luckily I manage to block it, only to be struck by his left one he flapped his wings and used both of his talons to strike my chest. I stumbled back coughing, but quickly raised my arm to block his wing, and I finally punched back. I manage to land a hit to Cranes beak, which he merely shook it off before attacking me once again. Luck was clearly not on my side, when Crane gained the upper han- oh who I'm kidding he had the bloody thing since the start. With one final swoop with his wing, Crane effectively upper cutter me knocking me to the ground. I was once again, in agony.

"You fared no better in this match, but there does seem to be signs of improvement. Even if it jut slightly" Shifu said, almost not sounding like an ass "Viper" he said snapping his fingers.

'Oh shit, not again' I thought, horrified.

So for he next hour, one by one they all began to use me as a boxing bag. Seriously, I could barely had a chance block, let alone even throw a punch. And could you blame me? These guys are fricking Kung fu masters for Gods sake! Well our...session came to an end. While the others didn't even break a sweat, I however felt rather weakened from, oh you know, an hour of getting the shit kicked out of me. The rest had returned into the Training hall except for Viper and Crane, who Shifu had asked to stay in the courtyard with me. After a few minutes he retuned with a scroll in one hand and have it to Crane.

"Crane, I would like you to fetch items on this list. Viper, I would like you to accompany Ben to the clothing store. Try and find clothing to...replace his current ones" he said, looking me over as I did as well.

My clothes were starting to wear out and that was even before the fact that My ass got planted into the ground Over six hundred times for the past hour. Maybe it was time to get some new clothes.

"Yes, Master" Viper and Crane said in unison. They turned to leave and I followed behind. We eventually reached the top of the steps near the building a first saw when I came up here. When we reached the bottom of the steps, we reached what looked like an arena of some sort. Something else I couldn't quite make out in the snow. There was two buildings which stood opposite one another, with stands that faced the centre. When we started to head down the second set of steps, Crane decided to brake the silence.

"Hey Ben, you didn't do too bad today" he said.

"Yeah right. I was awful" I replied.

"I wouldn't say that. Even if you didn't land to many hits, you still manage to keep fighting, despite having to fight all of us in a row" Viper said, weighing into the conversation

I sighed "I don't know, I felt like maybe I could have done better" I said, lowering my head.

"Up against Kung fu masters? Come on, don't be so hard yourself" Crane said.

"Why did Master Shifu have us spar anyway?" Viper asked.

"Well, when you guys went inside the hall to train, Shifu made me offer to come and join you guys, seeing how I was able to handle myself back in that store" I explained,

"And?" Crane asked.

"Well...I said yeah. I really don't have anywhere to go and I don't know anyone here besides you guys and the idea of becoming a Kung fu fighter doesn't sound to bad either" I replied.

"Well It'll be nice to have you stick around" Viper said, smiling.

"Yeah, you see like a pretty cool guy" Crane added, also smiling.

I kinda felt strange after hearing that. Probably cause well..I've never really had anyone who wanted me to stick around with them. Maybe this place isn't as bad as I think

"Thanks, Crane" I said, managing to crack a smile.

We finally reached the bottom and we took in what we saw. The streets echoed with the sounds of men, women and child alike going about their daily business. Stalls were set up and different types of animals were behind listing off to bypasses what they had for sale. This place just seemed so alive.

"Well, come on. Let's go then" Viper said, slithering in town as Crane and I followed

'Let's see what this place has to offer' I thought.


	4. Chapter 4

_Chapter 4: it's the clothes that make the man _

So Crane, Viper and I were walking through the town passing shops and houses. This whole place was amazing. I loved the sounds, smells and the sights. This place was just so alive with life. The streets were deprived of litter and the awful stench of polluted air. It just felt so good to breath in fresh air for once. One thing that I dislike though. The animals would often...well stare at me. I have know doubt they've never seen a human before, but still it was kinda rude and just made me feel uncomfortable . I never liked being the centre of attention, so I threw up my hood to try and avoid drawing more attention to myself, but even then my clothes being so different to theirs didn't help the matter either. Looks like the idea of new clothes is looking better and better.

"Hey Ben, are you alright?" Viper asked, noticing my nervous expression.

"Yeah, just..not really liking all of the stares I'm getting right now." I replied, trying to bury my head into my hoodie further. Viper looked around and noticed a few villagers staring at me as they passed.

"Don't you know it's rude to stare?" she said aloud. When she did the animals turned their gaze ahead of them and continued to walk.

"Thanks, Viper. I kinda should have known my appearance would draw attention." I said, feeling slightly less nervous.

"Come on, don't worry about that just ignore them." she said.

"What type of species are you anyway. If you don't mind me asking?" Crane asked.

"Well I'm a human." I replied, falling back slightly to walk alongside him.

"A human? Don't think I've ever heard of such a species. Are there a lot of humans back were you used to live?" he asked.

"Well..yeah." I answered, kinda wishing they would change the subject.

"Where did you live before?" Viper asked.

I froze up. Oh crap, what the hell should I say? That I'm from another dimension?! If I say that I'll be branded as a psychopath or something. What the hell should I say?! I'm still not sure what the hells going on. I wasn't sure about revealing where I'm truly from was a good idea, but I had to think up of something quick.

"I'd rather not talk about home it brings back...bad memories." I said frowning.

"Oh I'm sorry. I didn't mean to..."Viper began saying, with sympathy in her voice.

"No, no it's okay, I just don't really wanna talk about it. If that's okay." I said.

"Don't worry I won't. Anyway we should get you them new clothes." Viper said, changing the subject.

"You guys go do that, I've gotta get supplies for the Palace." Crane said.

"Alright then, see you later Crane." Viper said.

"See ya Viper. And you too Ben." he said waving while turned.

"Well come on we're nearly there." Viper said, as we continued to to dwell further in the town. We eventually arrived outside a store and a sign hanging above the door that had '裁缝' written on it, which I assumed in English had something to do with clothing. We enter he store and well as you'd guess there were clothes here. The place was packed with clothing being hung up with wooden hangers. The clothes were mostly all fashioned differently, from a range of clothing for men a women alike. They all resembled a Chinese fashion. We approached the counter and noticed no one was behind it, only a set of curtains which probably lead to a back room.

"Ling, are you here?" Viper asked aloud, but received no response. "Ling?" she called out again, except this time the sound of something shuffling came from behind the curtains, then somebody emerged. To be more specific it looked like a female leopard. Her fur was a light orange and white colour and her eyes were green like an emerald. She wore a white shirt with buttons, long sleeves that hung loose and black pants. She appeared to have measuring tape slung over her shoulder, most likely to take measurements. When she emerged, she smiled.

"Viper its so good see you again!" she said, approaching Viper and giving her a hug.

"You too Ling." Viper said, also smiling.

"It feels like years since I've seen you. And don't you look beautiful as ever." she said, looking Viper over.

"Thanks Ling. you look great too." Viper said. The leopard turned to me and smiled.

"I see you've brought a friend." she said.

"Yes this is Ben. Ben, this is Hua-Ling, an old friend of mine." Viper said, introducing us both to each other.

"It's a pleasure to meet you." she said, holding out her paw. I gently grabbed it and shook it.

"Likewise, miss." I replied.

"So what can I do for you today Viper?" She asked, turning to her friend.

"I was wondering if you were able to supply my friend with new clothes." she replied. The leopard turned back to me and smiled.

"Of course! This should be exciting, I've never work with a manner of species like this before." she said, circling me, looking me over, "it might take some time though. I don't think I have clothing that matches his build, well at least not until I measure him first and see." she said, turning back to Viper.

"Well take your time, there's really no rush." Viper said.

"Alright then. If you'll follow me." Ling said, pushing past the curtains. I looked at Viper still rather nervous, but she swished her tail gesturing me to follow and I did, with hesitation. I pushed passed the curtains entered the back room. Inside there were chairs and tables with fabric and silk scattered on them and also a sewing machine, nothing like a modern day one. Another table had a few unfinished dresses with needle and thread next to them. In the centre of the room there was a round rug that had a red and blue ring pattern on it. At the back of the room the was another set of curtains which was most likely a dressing room. All around the room there were more clothes all being hung up along with a large selection of shoes and boots placed in a corner.

"Alright then. Shall we get started?" she asked.

"Um..sure" I replied, quietly.

"Okay, I might have pants and shoes that will most likely fit you but I'll have to take measurements to see if I can get a top to fit you," she said removing the tape from her shoulder, "If you could remove your top please" she said.

My eyes widened and I could hear my heart beating in my ears. I just couldn't help it, I had always felt nervous around strangers and the fact that one was asking me to remove my top just made me freak out slightly.

Ling chuckled, "Come now, don't be nervous I'm just going to take measurements" she said. I gulped as I began to zip down my hoodie and removed it slowly. I then grabbed my t-shirt and pulled it off I threw it onto a nearby chair along with my hoodie and I stood there uncomfortably. It's not that I'm ashamed of my body, personally I think it didn't look too bad. I have a natural strong build, but even then I wasn't the strongest guy around.

"Alright then, If you could raise your right arm please" she said. I complied to her request and she she placed one end of the tape near my shoulder and placed the other by my hand. After that she walked over to one of the nearby tables and shoved aside some fabric and picked up a piece of paper and quill. She dipped the quill in ink and wrote something down on the piece of paper and then brought it over, placing it on the nearby chair, where my hoodie and t-shirt rested. She asked me to raise my left arm and measured that one aswell. After a short period of silence, Ling broke it with a question.

"So, are you new in town? Don't think I've seen you around." she asked, continuing to take measurements.

"Yeah, I uh..just arrived yesterday." I replied.

"Well that's good to hear. It's always nice to have a new face around here. Especially when it's a face unlike any other. I don't believe I've ever seen someone like you before, what kind of species are you?" she asked.

"I'm a human." I replied.

"Human? Never heard of any humans around here." she said.

"Yeah, I've noticed seeing how I was being stared at by everyone who passed by." I said.

"Oh..I'm sorry to hear that." she said

"Don't worry about it." I said.

"So tell me, how do you know Viper?" she asked, changing the subject.

"I met her yesterday when I came into town last night. She was in a bit of a rough jam with some guys trying to rob a store. So I lent her a hand and in return she invited me up to the Palace up in the mountain to spend the night." I replied.

"Wow, it must have been quite an honor to be up in the Jade Palace." she said, beginning to measure my neck.

"Well I'm kinda..new to China so I've never really heard of the place before coming here." I said. In response, Ling's eyes widened and then she chuckled.

"Amazing, you just arrive in China and you've already managed to meet the most famous Kung Fu fighters in China." she said.

"I guess I'm a pretty lucky guy." I said.

"I feel honored to friends with one of them, let alone live in the same valley as them." she said.

"So how did you meet Viper?" I asked. Ling stopped measuring me and sighed.

"I met her almost three years ago when I first arrived in the Qvalley. I had just set up shop here and business was just perfect. It seemed everyday someone would come in the buy clothes. And then one faithful day a couple of bandits decided to try and rob my shop. I've never been so frightened in my life, it was the first time someone's ever tried to rob me and I just didn't know what to do and froze up. They started to cause havoc to the shop, tearing clothes and destroying shelves." she stopped speaking as her ears dropped before continuing,"One of them brought a knife to my throat and threatened to kill me if I didn't give them all the money I earned. I was just...so scared and I thought I was going to die, but then Viper and the rest of them showed up stopped them. I was still shaken up so Viper stayed behind to comfort me. So we began to talk for what felt like hours and sure enough we became friends. Every now and then Viper would come around to pay a visit. But even though a made a great friend that day, sometimes...sometimes that memory plays in my head and it..still hurts to think about it." she said, sighing once again before continuing to take measurements but without the smile she had before telling her story. And because of this, I felt a tremendous amount of guilt come over me.

"I'm..so sorry I-I didn't mean to bring back an awful memory like that." I said, sympathetically.

"Oh don't worry about it. I guess..I guess it helps sometimes getting it out in the open and not trying to bottle it up all the time." she said, reclaiming her smile.

"Yeah...I guess." I said, in a hush tone. Ling finished up measuring and took the sheet she was writing on, which I assumed was the measurements, and brought it over to a nearby table and began to look it over.

"Mmmm...I do believe you're in luck. I just might have something that will fit you. Hang on a moment." she said, scavenging through the hung up clothes, pushing aside hanger by hanger until she grabbed a black undershirt and then headed over to another set of hung of clothing, which consisted of pants, and grabbed a pair of black silk pants which she place on her arm along with the shirt. She then headed over to another set of hung up clothes with variety of different coloured vests, with and without sleeves. She pulled out one similar to the tigers except it had sleeves and a hood, along with a red and black waist wrap. The vest was white with red and black trims with a vine pattern on it. And finally she headed to the corner With shoes and boots and grabbed a black pair of shoes, then headed back to me.

"Ok. Take these and try them on in the changing room over there." she said, handing me the clothes and pointing to the set of curtains at the back of the room. I headed towards it and shoved the curtains to the side. Inside was a small room with a large mirror, red carpet, coat hanger and a chair. I closed the curtains behind me and placed the clothes on the chair, then proceeded to the remove my pants and get dressed. I stood in front of the mirror and looked myself over.

'All I'm missing is hidden blades.' I thought. I then smacked myself in the face,"Why I'm a such a nerd." I picked up my pants and pushed passed to curtains to see Ling inspecting my hoodie. She turned to me and smiled.

"My, my, don't you look just look dashing." she said, which caused me to blush.

"Ummm...thanks." I said, scratching the back of my head nervously.

"Now that we've got you some new clothes, what you like to do with these." she asked, holding up my T-shirt and hoodie. I looked at them and my pants and wonder what would I do with them. The pants and hoodie were in pretty bad condition and the T-shirt faired no better. They could be repaired, but I think I'd be more comfortable wearing clothes that didn't stand out and draw attention.

"I guess I could get rid of them." I replied.

"Are you sure? I could fix them up for you in no time." she said.

"No, that's alright. I kinda feel more comfortable wearing these clothes." I said.

"Okay then. I don't suppose you'd mind if I keep them. I could use their design to maybe created a new type of fashion." I said, examining my hoodie.

"Umm..sure." I said.

"Thank you. Now I'll see you out." she said pushing past the curtains as I followed behind. When we the front of the shop, I saw Viper on a chair and she turned towards us and smiled.

"You did a great job Ling, thank you." Viper said, looking me over.

"No problem Viper, it's least I could do." Ling said.

"So how much will it cost?" Viper asked.

"Oh don't worry about, this ones on me." Ling replied.

"Wait, are you sure?" Viper asked.

"Of course, don't worry." Ling replied, reassuringly.

"Thank you Ling, we'll see you later." Viper said, hugging her friend once again.

"Goodbye Viper. And it was nice talking to you Ben." Ling said, holding her paw out, which I shook once again.

"You too." I said. Viper and I then exited the shop and stood outside. The echoing of everyone going about their business filled the air once again.

"Well now that you've got new clothes, I'd like to go check of the bandits from last night have been taken to Chorh-Gom. Would you come with me?" she asked. Seeing how I barely know my way around and would probably get lost, I think it would be best to stick with Viper.

"Yeah sure, lead on." I replied, as she slithered forward and I followed behind, throwing my hood up. As we began to walk through the streets I noticed I wasn't drawing as much attention on myself, which made me feel less nervous. We eventually arrived outside a large building with a sign that has '卫队前哨' written on it, which was probably something to do with the guards. With stepped inside to see many guards going about their business. I noticed two of them standing and both sides of the door we came in.

"Excuse me, is the captain here?" Viper asked one of the guards by the door.

"I believe so. Just head down the hall." the guard replied.

"Alright, thank you." Viper said. We then headed down a hall and when we turned the corner we stopped outside a door. Viper then extended her tail and knocked on the door. In response, a male voice speak from inside.

"Come in." he said. Viper turned the doorknob and we both stepped into a small room. There was a window at the back of the room which had a good view the street outside. On the wall rested a weapon rack with a katana placed on it. In the centre of the room their was a large desk with what looked a logbook or something and alongside it there was a quill and inkwell. Sitting at the desk was the panther from last night, who looked like he was finishing up writing something down in the logbook. He raised his head from the desk and his eyes fell upon us

"Ah Master Viper, it's good to see you again." he said, before looking at me, "Hey, I remember you. You're that guy from last time who helped deal with the bandits, right?." he asked.

"Um..yeah." I replied.

"I don't believe we got properly introduced. My name is Kai-Jien, but you can just call me Kai" he said, rising from the desk and holding out his paw. I reached out and shook it.

"I'm Ben, it's nice to meet you." I said.

"Likewise. So, are you new in town? Haven't seen you around." he asked, sitting back down.

"Yeah I uh..just arrived yesterday." I said.

"Are you planning on staying around?" he asked.

"Well Master Shifu gave him a chance to come and train at the Jade Palace and he said yes." Viper answered, weighing into the conversation.

"That's a rare opportunity to come by, my friend. You must feel lucky." he said, leaning back in his chair.

"Yeah..I guess." I said.

"Anyway, what can I do you two for?" I asked.

"We came here to check if the bandits were brought to Chorh-Gom." Viper explained.

"Ah, of course. You don't need to worry. I had a couple of my men take them by carriage a few hours ago, they should be there and back in a day or two." he said.

"Well that's good to here. If there's any other problem in the valley, you know where to find us." Viper said.

"You don't. You don't need to worry. if anything gets out of hand, we'll put a stop to it. Goodbye, my friends." he said, waving as we exited the office.

"Well then, now that we've done everything we're suppose to do down here, we should head back up to the Jade Palace." Viper suggested.

"Lead the way." I said. I then followed Viper out the building and headed back up to the..Jade Palace.


	5. Chapter 5

_Chapter 5: fitting in_

So after we met up with Crane, we all headed back up the steps to the Palace, or the Jade Palace as they've been calling it. And once again I found myself breathless after climbing all those steps. What I would give just to have an escalator there.

"I take it you're not getting used to those steps anytime soon." Crane asked, releasing a light chuckle.

"Probably not. So if I ever collapse at anytime on my way up, just leave me to die." I replied, gasping for air. Crane and Viper both chuckled at my response.

"I guess we should get back to the training hall." Viper said.

"Alright then. Let's go." Crane said. Viper then slithered ahead, where Crane and I then followed behind her. As we headed towards...training hall, I could still feel the suns ray on my face. Despite it being out with clear skies, the air was still bitter. The cold gnawing at me sending chills down my spine. However my new clothing was providing more warmth than my previous ones. And even with the cold, the sight seemed to bring a warm feeling. I still couldn't wrap my head around just how beautiful this place is. It's like someone saw the crappy neighbourhood I was living in and decided to change it into something better. But I highly doubt that was the case, I don't think I'd be that lucky. Then again...I'am in this place. Which is still puzzling me. China..I still can't believe. Just that one little word that completely blew my mind. How the hell did I get here? And why are the residents animals? I noticed this place is t too modern either. This place resembles more like ancient China to me. But how's that possible? Did I go back in time or something? I have so many goddamn questions, and there's no one who can answer them. Except maybe the creepy voice I heard before coming here. I can defiantly rule out that it wasn't the alcohol doing something to my mind. Just what the hell was it? And why was it speaking to me? This all just too confusing. I just needed more time to think, but right now didn't seem like the time. We arrived at the training hall and opened the doors and stepped inside. Just like this morning, Monkey, Mantis and the tiger Seemed to be at the same equipment and Shifu was observing from the side and didn't look exactly pleased with them. His gazed fell upon us and he began to make his way over to us.

"Ah, now you look much more respectable. Now that you have acquired the appropriate attire, I believe it's time for you to start properly training. I would like for you to begin-" he said, while being cut off from the doors opening from behind us and a goose stepped inside. He wore a yellow robe with black trims and had a yellow at to match with it.

"M-master Shifu, Master Oogway is requesting Your presence." the goose said, in a nervous tone. With this news, Shifu's eyes widened.

"Where?" he asked quickly.

"In the hall of warriors." the goose replied. Shifu then turned towards once again.

"While I go and speak with Master Oogway, I want the three of you to start training. Understand?" Shifu said.

"Yes Master Shifu." Crane and Viper said in unison and bowed, which Shifu noticed I didn't.

"If you are you train here you WILL address me as 'Master' and bow respectively." he said, staring at me with a stern look, "Understood?" despite his size, he still seemed to be intimidating.

"Yes..Master." I finally said and bowed. 'Master' Shifu then turned and left the hall along with the goose.

"Christ, is he always that cold hearted?" I asked.

"I wouldn't take it to heart, it's just his way." Viper replied.

"He looked like he was about to tear my head off." I said.

"He does seem to leave that kind of impression." Crane joked.

"Does he make you train everyday?" I asked.

"Just Monday to Friday. We get the weekend off." Viper answered.

"And today is?" I asked. In response Viper chuckled.

"This morning you didn't seem to even know what country you were in, now you don't know what day it is? Did you come here drunk or something? Because there was a smell of alcohol coming off of you." Viper asked curiously.

"Well...yeah, I needed to clear my head from some things" I replied honestly, with a shameful expression.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pry or anything." Viper said noticing my expression.

"No worry about it." I said assuringly.

"Well I guess we better get started." Crane said turning towards the equipment in the centre of the room.

"Don't suppose there's anything in here that will not kill me the first time I try it?" I asked.

"Well I suppose you could try your luck with the adversary." Viper joked as she pointed towards a training dummy that sat in the corner to our left

"Knowing my luck, I'm pretty sure I'd get my ass kicked." I said.

"Well I suppose you should start off with the wooden warriors." Crane suggested, pointing towards the spinning dummies.

"It doesn't look too difficult." I commented, observing Mantis fly through it like it was nothing.

"Alright then, let's go to it." Crane said as he headed for the spinning dummies, while Viper and I followed. As we headed towards the dummies, mantis had reached the other side of the dummies at on incredible speed. He turned and saw us approach.

"Hey guys and..hey you're still here?" Mantis asked noticing my presence.

"Yeah, looks like I'll be training here with you guys." I replied.

"Cool, it'll be good have someone new to talk to around here. I see you got yourself new clothes as well, looking

much better than your last ones" he said before asking,"So what are you all doing over here?"

"Well Master Shifu said that we need to start training and I thought we should get Ben to start off with wooden warriors." Crane explained.

"Alright then, go ahead." Mantis said while leaping on Cranes shoulder.

"So I just have to get to the other side while avoiding getting my skull cracked open?" I asked Mantis.

"Pretty much. Just try and block the arms and push your way through" he replied. I look over the course and began having second thoughts about trying it. Mantis made it look so easy but that's probably because his size aloud him safe passage through it. I'm nearly 6 foot tall and the dummies only seemed to come up around nearly 5 foot. And being taller than the dummies meant that it's top arms will smack my face. Just great. I took a deep breath and stood readying myself as well as I could.

'This is gonna hurt.' I thought. I slowly stepped forward in between two dummies and managed to slip past without setting off the arms. I then slipped through another two.

'Huh, maybe this won't be so bad.' I thought. Immediately, after I set foot between the next two dummies, their arms began to spin.

'Oh crap.' I thought, before receiving a wooden arm to my face and stomach. I held my face in pain as I was sent towards another set of wooden arms, which struck my chin and stomach again. I saw another set of arms about to hit me, but before it could I blocked the top one with my arm and the bottom with my leg. I then began to move to the centre, trying my best not to get hit. After only being hit a few more times, I managed to get to the other side.

"Ow." was all I get say. My whole body was sore as hell. What madman designed that thing?! I groaned as I held my head in pain and couldn't help but notice Monkey had joined Crane, Viper and Mantis by the side of the course.

"Not bad. You actually managed to block a good number of arms. Not many could do that on their first try." Viper said encouragingly, but I somehow suspect she's just saying that to hide the fact that I pretty much just failed. I signed in response and lowered my head feeling rather embarrassed of my performance.

"Oh come on man, you didn't really expect to do it perfectly the first time you tried it did you?" Mantis asked.

"I guess not." I replied feeling less embarrassed.

"Alright we should try something else." Crane said. Mantis then leapt off his shoulder and resumed with his training, while I followed Crane and we seemed to be heading towards the giant green turtle shell.

"Alright, this will be a test of balance," Crane began to explain,"I want you to stand beside me on one side of the shell."

"Alright." I said with a nod. Crane then spread his wings and flew up and landed on the shell. I leapt up grabbing the edge of the shell and pulled myself up. I tried to stand myself up and nearly fell into the shell. I began to wobble back and forth before managing to balance myself.

"I was going to say that we should start off with sparring on this, but you don't seem to be able to balance yourself well," Crane said noticing my effort to keep from falling,"so I think we will should begin with something simple like seeing how well you can keep your balance when there's a counter balance. I'm going to shimmy around the shell and displace as much weight as I can, you just try and remain balanced. Got it?" he asked.

"Yeah, let's do this." I replied, trying to be as confident as much as I could. Crane then began to move around the shell, forcing as much weight as he could everywhere be stood. I was surprisingly doing a good job, despite the fact that the shell was rocking back and forth non-stop. After Crane had rocked the shell back and forth for a few minuets, he came to a halt.

"Not bad, you kept your balance pretty well." Crane said with a smile.

"Thanks, Crane." I said with a smile of my own. After training with Crane for while, Master Shifu had returned andhe began to observed my performance and, quite frankly, he didn't seemed impressed. He continued to watch us training for the next few hours until it was getting late.

"That will be enough training for today, proceed to the kitchen and have dinner, then head to your rooms and rest for the night." Shifu announced loudly, before turning to leave.

"Come on then, I'll get dinner started." Viper said, leaving the hall with the rest of us following behind her. When we arrived at the kitchen, we all took a seat at the table. Viper said that she would make soup for all of us aside from the tiger who just stuck with those the cubes she ate this morning. Not exactly my first choice. It really did t look too appetizing. Well maybe for a mouse, but not for a fully grown man.

"Not bad for your first day training here, huh Ben?" Mantis asked, striking up a conversation.

"Aside from the the excruciating pain you all inflicted on me, and being repeatedly struck in the face by the spinning warriors, Yeah, it was alright I suppose." I replied, receiving a chuckle out of both Mantis and Monkey and a smile from Crane. The tiger, on the other hand, just seemed to remain emotionless. I noticed that she had the expression all day, she was also the only who I haven't talk to yet and I don't even know her name. But she looks like she'd bite my head off if I did, so I figured maybe talking to her wouldn't be a great idea.

"You'll get better, it was only your first day." Crane assured.

"What was your first day here like?" I asked Crane.

"Oh pretty good, I already knew a good bit of Kung Fu before coming to the Jade Palace and I settled in pretty well." Crane said quickly. A bit too quickly. It almost seemed like something he didn't want to talk about it.

"'Settled in pretty well', huh?" Mantis asked, with a mischievous look. Crane covered his face with his wing.

"Please don't." Crane pleaded

"Because if memory serves me right, you were a nervous wreck," Mantis began, causing Crane to hide his face further in embarrassment,"You stuttered with your words, you were twitching and I could swear you fainted one time." he said, causing Monkey to laugh.

"Come on, I just moved from the academy and I was nervous. I didn't know anybody here." Crane said.

"You know I'm only playing around with you." Mantis said while releasing a light chuckle.

"Yeah well, when you arrived you didn't exactly leave the best impression." Viper said, weighing into the conversation.

"Oh come on, I wasn't that bad...was I?" Mantis asked.

"Are you kidding? You the biggest hot-head around. 'Modesty' was clearly something you weren't familiar with." Viper continued.

"Okay, so maybe a was a 'little' ahead of myself." Mantis said.

"A 'little?'You almost got us killed countless times. And I use the work 'countless' because I doubt any of us bothered to keep counting after two hundred." Viper said, causing Monkey and Crane to laugh and I released a little chuckle of my own.

"As you can see Ben, nothing but love between all of us." Mantis said, sarcastically while rolling his eyes.

"Oh I can see that." I said releasing a light chuckle.

"Alright, the soups ready,"Viper announced while pouring soup in bowls,"Could you help with these Crane?" She asked as she held two on her tail.

"Sure." he replied smiling. He then took three bowls and placed it in front of me, Monkey and Mantis, while Viper placed her two in front of Crane and herself. They both then gave each of us and themselves a spoon to eat with.

"Mmmm smells delicious," Monkey said, before swallowing a spoonful,"And tastes and good as it smells. You always fail to disappoint Viper." Monkey said.

"Thank you Monkey." Viper said with a cheerful smile.

"Yeah, not bad." Mantis said sounding almost unimpressed.

"Oh, and you could do better?" Viper asked.

"Maybe...with some time to practice-" he began before he was cut off by Viper.

"Yeah right. If you tried to pour yourself a glass of water, you'd set the kitchen on fire." she joked causing us to laugh and Mantis to lower his head in embarrassment. After almost an hour of chatting, we had all finished our meal, we headed back to our rooms to rest for the night. I entered my room and sat down on my bed. I removed my vest and placed it beside me. I kicked off my shoes and laid down on the bed, sighing. Now seemed like a great time to address the elephant in the room. Which was, how the hell did I get here and what the hell is going on?! I mean, Jesus, I'm in China! CHINA! And it's inhabitants are talking animals who I treat as everyday people. I agreed to learn Kung Fu! What I'm I doing?! So many thoughts were passing through my mind, but one stood how from the the rest. The voices. They spoke to me, telling about 'My destiny' and 'Beginning anew' and some other crap. Beginning anew...does that mean what I think it does? Did those voices send me here? To start a new life? Okay, maybe my life wasn't too great back before...

I shook my head reminding myself to just drop it and try and forget. If I ignored it, everything will be okay. Although some alcohol might help. I sighed as I ran my fingers through my long hair.

'What I'm I going to do?' I thought to myself. After being so deep in thought, I did t realise just how much time had passed. It must have been an hour or so. I grunted in annoyance and pulled myself off the bed.

'I guess a little walk would do me good.' I thought as I put my vest back on. I slowly opened my door and peeked down the hall. Everyone seemed fast asleep. I then crept quietly out of room until I was outside. Immediately the cold air began to gnaw at my skin. It felt strange not hearing a passing car or plane. Sounds I wished stopped so I could sleep, are now sounds I'm missing. I breathed deeply as I began to walk. With my hood down I could feel my hair blowing in the wind. Must have been about two years since I just stopped cutting my hair. I just let it grow until it had finally reached my shoulders. I kinda like it really, with my goatee I didn't look too bad. Kinda like a heavy metal fan or something. Did I really just talk about my hair and beard? Jesus. I really need better things to talk about. After walking for a while, I came across that the massive hall with the pillars outside and, well curiosity got the best of me and I headed towards it to see what's inside. As I came around the the front of it, I noticed that one of the doors was left ajar. I raised a brow in suspicion as I slowly made towards it and peeked inside. And inside was just wow. The room was massive and the green seemed to reflect just about everywhere. There was also pillars similar to those outside. The walls were decorated with pictures and weapons and such. Many weapons were on display along with a couple of suits of armour and vases. One particular weapon rack was empty for some reason. Maybe there saving a spot for a future weapon? At the far end of the room, on the ceiling was a majestic and amazing sculpture of a golden dragon. It was just incredible how much detail was put into this thing. I also noticed it was holding something between it's teeth. It seemed to resemble a scroll or something. And below this wonderful piece of art was...the tiger? Yeah she seemed to be sitting with her legs crossed in front a pool of some sort. She appeared to be staring up at the dragon.

'What was she doing here?' I thought. It really wasn't any of my business, but I just seemed curious as to why she was here. This also didn't seem like a bad time to introduce myself properly. Although... she came her alone, which means she probably didn't want to be disturbed. After some consideration, I decided to go and introduce myself. I slid between the door that was left ajar and began to make my way towards her.

"For one who wishes to learn Kung Fu, your stealth is will need improvement." she said bitterly, before standing up and facing me.

"I wasn't trying to sneak up on you." I said.

"Then what are you doing here?" She asked folding her arms.

"Well I was out for a walk and come noticed the door was left ajar. I peeked in and saw you. I figured we'll be training under the same roof, maybe we should get to know each other," I extended my hand,"I'm Ben, and you?" She kept her arms folded and just stared at my hand.

"I'm not looking for a friend." she said coldly. I frowned and pulled my hand back.

"Well okay, we don't have to be friends, if you don't want to. I just wanted to introduce myself and maybe get your name." I said. She cocked her head slightly, while narrowing her eyes. This made me feel rather uneasy.

"It's Tigress." she said after a brief moment of silence.

"Well it's nice to meet you," I said, earning more silence from her. I then scratched my head nervously,"So eh...what are you doing in here." I asked.

"That's none of your concern." she replied.

"Oh..eh okay." I said averting my gaze, feeling uncomfortable. We both stood there, me just uncomfortable as hell and her, just staring at me with narrowed eyes and folded arms.

"Well I eh..I'm gonna go now. I'll leave you to...do what ever you were doing." I said. After receiving no response and just turned and left the hall with a quickened pace. Well that was a little awkward...and scary. Maybe introducing myself wasn't such a great idea. I suppose there's nothing better to do now than just to go back to sleep. I returned to my room, took off my vest and laid down on my bed once more. Except this time I drifted off into deep slumber.

Somewhere far outside the Valley of peace...

A carriage is being hauled by rhino soldiers on a dirt path along with a few more who marched alongside it. They were far from any town or any lightly populated area. The carriage is equipped with iron doors, the keep whoever is inside from getting out. Inside, a cougar,a cheetah and two wolves have their hands bound in iron cuffs and their clothing replaced with rags.

"Not even a goddamn week and we've already screwed up again." Juan spoke lifting his head. The cougars face full of anger and annoyance.

"Maybe we should have just tried something else besides robbing people." the cheetah said, turning to Juan.

"With our past? We'd be lucky to get any job in this shithole of a country." the cougar said.

"This sucks." the wolves said in unison.

"Quiet in there!" a soldier shouted, walking along the carriage with a spear in his hand.

"Oh, piss off." Juan spat. The rhino smacked the iron bars with his spear.

"Im warning you!" he said, clenching his spear tighter with an angered expression. Juan growled under his breath.

"I guess it's another trip to prison." the cheetah said, leaning on his paw.

"I have a feeling we're gonna be there longer than last time." Dao said, frowning.

"Maybe we won't be getting out at all." the other wolf said with uncertainty. They all sighed. As a short silence ensured, it was eventually broken by one of the guards.

"Look out!" he shouted loudly.

Before anyone could figure out was going on, an explosion blew the guard into bits and causing the carriage to be blown onto its side, causing the four inside to be propelled to one side of the carriage. The sound of coughing a moaning emanated from the carriage.

"Oh god I think my arm is broke." the cheetah said, holding his arm.

"What the hell happened?!" Juan asked.

"How should we know? Hey the iron door is open." Dao said, pointing up on the door. Juan pulled himself up and leapt up grabbing the door with both hands pulling himself up. After he pulled himself out of the carriage he looked outside. On the ground was the remains of the guards. Their lifeless bodies were torn apart and the ground was painted with their blood.

"Hey give us a hand, Juan." the cheetah said, holding his hands up. Juan got down on one knee and held out his paws. The cheetah leapt up and grabbed them, to which Juan pulled him up. After helping the wolves up, they jumped down to the dirt path, overlooking the dead.

"Holy shit." The cheetah said, looking at the mess.

"What do we do now. We're fugitives, they'll hunt us down." Dao said, with a panicky tone.

"Well, well, well, what have we here," came a deep voice. The four turned, to face figures in the shadows. One massive one stepped out, carrying a large two-handed sword,"New recruits?"


	6. Chapter 6

_Chapter 6: a taste of what is to come_

I was backed into a corner, surrounded by them. Their staring eyes, their fingers pointing at me and a cruel laughter along with the insults. I could feel tears beginning to form in my eyes. I just can't take it anymore! Suddenly they faded into darkness. No sounds, no light...nothing. And then I saw it, the rope, fashioned into a noose, hanging from the ceiling. My breathing became uncontrollable as a figure standing on a chair below it, began placing it around its neck.

"You caused this, this is your doing." it said. It raised one foot, hovering it in the air.

"No, NO, please don't!" I shouted, sprinting towards it. No matter how hard a tried, every step a took was in vain as the figure got further and further, until it faded completely into darkness. The last thing I heard was the sound of the tightening of a rope.

My eyes shot open and I sat up straight breathing heavily. I looked around the room and saw sunlight passing through the window, brightening up the room. I let out a sigh of relief.

'Just a dream..just a dream,' I thought, before frowning,'I wish it was.' I sat up and rubbed my eyes, and noticed something was wrong with my hand. I lifted them both up and noticed they were shaking. I placed one over the other and held it tight. I didn't hear anyone, or anything. It was too quiet. I felt cold, frightened and alone. I just needed a drink, I needed it to help me calm down. I-I-I need a drink, I need one now. As I sat there shaking, the sound of a distant 'dong' sound could be heard. That's when I remembered what Master Shifu said, about getting up when I hear it.

"Good morning, Master." I heard the others in unison.

"Ben! Ben!" I heard Master Shifu shouted. I shot up from my bed and open the doors and was greeted with an angered expression. He raised his flute threateningly.

"That's twice you failed to get up at greet me." he said.

"I'm sorry I was-"

"There is no excuses!" he shouted,"The rest of you have breakfast and resume your training." he said. They all left leaving me and Shifu alone.

"I'm sorry I didn't-" Master Shifu, raised his flute silencing me.

"I said no excuses. You failed to greet me on time, as such you must learn to accept responsibility, do you understand?" he asked, raising his voice. I lowered my head shamefully.

"Yes, Master." I replied with a saddened tone.

"Now, I want you to come with me. My Master wishes to speak with you." he said, turning and began walking down the hall. I quickly grabbed my vest, closed the doors to my room and followed him. As we stepped outside, I notice that most of the snow had melted, indicating that winter was starting to fade. Thank god for that, I can't stand the cold. I've always been summer kind of guy. I suppose the only upside to winter would be the holiday. One time of the year where not everyone's a complete dick. I usually see people having a good time. Singing, dancing and laughing. It would nice if I could've joined in. I sighed I just told myself to forget about it. After a while Shifu had led me to the hall I was at last night. He placed his hand on the door and turned to me.

"Before you enter remember this, Master Oogway is one of the wisest Masters in Kung Fu. He has taught many things over his life which had changed the life of many. You will treat him with the utmost respect and bow when you greet him. Are we clear?" he asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Yes, Master." I replied. He then opened the door and told me to enter, and so I did. He then turned and left. I enter the hall and looked around for this 'Oogway' guy when I noticed something strange below the dragon statue. Was it a shell? It certainly looked like one. And it seemed to be balancing on a rather thin staff.

"Ah, so you have come. Good." a voice said, emanating from the shell. Suddenly it sprung arms and legs, reveling itself to be an old turtle, which began to slowly descend off the staff. It turned and faced me with a heartwarming smile. I bowed respectable, to which he chuckled.

"Come now, there's no need for formalities, I only wish to speak with you. I am Grand Master Oogway. It is nice to meet the newest student of the Jade Palace. " he said before gesturing for me to come closer, which I did.

"I'm Ben, it's a pleasure to meet you Master Oogway." I said.

"So tell me, are you fitting in well here at Jade Palace?" he asked.

"Um, I guess. Viper, Crane, Monkey and Mantis seem to be like me. Can't really say the same for Tigress and Shifu." I replied.

"Ah, yes, as expected from these two. But you cannot blame them for how to treat you. Both have suffered terribly during their lives, but as time passes, the wounds that have been inflicted on them will heal. And so will yours." he said. I felt uneasy with his last words.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"You will see in time. As for now you should focus on your training. It will no doubt serve you well in the future. You should hear to the training hall now. When you need to speak to me again, I will find you, farewell for now." he replied, before returning to balancing on his staff.

"Um, goodbye then." I said. I then turned to leave but not before having one more glance at him. He defiantly gave a strange impression, but he seems like an interesting person. But I suppose I should do what he says and head to the training hall. Thankfully I can still remember where is. After reaching the hall, I entered and saw the rest of them at their usually stations. Master Shifu didn't seem to be anywhere in sight. I made way towards the spinning dummies where Mantis had just made his way to the other side and was about to do it again before noticing me.

"Well look who's still alive! We figured you'd be getting your coffin size fitted by now. Good to see you made it out alive." he said.

"Heh, thanks. I'll tell you you something though, with the look on his face, I figured he was gonna tear my head off." I said, almost shaking from fear remembering Shifu's face this morning.

"Well you're definitely getting on his good side, waking up late." he joked.

"If getting up late is a way to get on his good side, he's gonna love me by the end of the week." he joked, earning a chuckle out the little bug.

"Anyway, you should start training. You could train with me." he said.

"Okay, so will we take turns...?" I asked.

"No, no, I'll start on the right and you start on the left. Lets see who gets to the other side first," he said, taking position, which I did as well,"Alright, on the count to three, one...two...THREE!" he shouted, before taking off at high speed. I then followed behind blocking as many arms as I could, while pushing through at the same time. I seemed to have improved from yesterday, seeing how I blocked more times than I was hit. I eventually made it to the other side, seconds after Mantis.

"Not bad, you done better than you did yesterday." he said, sounding impressed of my performance.

"Thanks." I said with a small smile.

"Maybe you should train with Viper now. See how you do with something a bit more advanced." he suggested. I nodded in agreement before heading to where Viper was stationed. Oh sweet merciful god, what exactly I'm I about to do. There's fire coming from the ground, how I'm I suppose to do this?! Viper leaped off the fiery floor when she saw me approach.

"Hey Ben, I hope Master Shifu wasn't to hard on you." she said.

"Thankfully, he didn't spank me too hard." I joked. Viper covered her mouth with her tail, trying to suppress a chuckle.

"So what are you doing over here?" she asked.

"Well Mantis suggested I should try something a bit more advanced to see how I'll do." I replied.

"Well if you think you're up to it," she said, waving her tail over the metal floor,"Just remember, rely on your senses. You have to try and predict where the fire will come from." she explained. Okay, okay, I think I can do this. I took a deep breath and slowly set foot on the metal floor and other and other until I was in the centre.

'Try and predict, okay.' I thought, trying to stay calm. After a short moment, a flame shot out of the ground to my right missing me by inches. Another was about to turn me into bacon, but a leapt to side dodging it quickly. This was just insane! The fact that I could be a pile of ashes in seconds if I didn't dodge quickly enough, was actually quite fun! I guess there is such a thing as dangerous fun. After avoiding the flames for some time, they eventually stopped. I stepped of the metal floor and back onto the wooden.

"Wow, you did brilliantly. It's good to see that your improving, of you ever need help with your training, I'd be glad to help." Viper said with a smile.

"Thank you, Viper," I said with a smile of my own. Since I was staying here, I figured maybe getting to know these guys better wouldn't be such a bad idea. And Viper seems the nicest, so she might be the easiest to bond with,"So I was wondering, how did you end up training here?" I asked, attempting to strike up a conversation.

"Well I started training here nearly twenty years ago. Do you know Master Oogway?" she asked, to which I nodded,"Well I few months after my town had thrown the moon festival, Master Oogway had paid a visit to my village. He usually visits to speak with my father, but this time he approached me. He said that I had unique talents which could be used outside my village. So he offered me a chance to train at the Jade Palace. It was overwhelming to say the least. The honour of training at the Jade Palace? Just overwhelming. At first I was a little reluctant at first, but my father encouraged me to go and so I did."

"Why were you reluctant to come here?" I asked. She frowned.

"I just...didn't want to leave my family. I love them so much and to say goodbye was heartbreaking. We only keep in touch with letters and visits from time to time but... I still miss them." she said sadly.

"I'm sorry, it must have been hard. But al least you've got friends here who'll look out for you like you're own family would." I said, getting her to smile again.

"So what about you?" she asked.

"What do you mean?" I replied

"Where's your family?" she asked. I felt myself freeze to the spot and my heart began to race.

"I-I-I don't...have a family." I replied in a jittery tone.

"What? No brothers or sisters? Not even a mom and dad?" she asked.

"Well, no family anymore. I didn't have any brothers or sisters, I did have a father but the bastard left me when I was four. As for my mother...she...she died years ago. So...I'm all alone." I said lowering my head in sadness.

"That's...horrible. I'm so sorry." she said. I just kept my head lowered. I..just couldn't talk about my mother. I just couldn't. I lifted my head and looked down at Viper. She had smile on her face as she placed her tail on my back.

"Hey, you have friends here too. We'll make sure you fit in just right, and treat you like one of our own." she assured. I managed to release a weak smile.

"Thank you." I said, quite moved by her words. So I continued to train with the rest of them and striking up a conversation with whoever I trained with. Except Tigress, I figured she didn't look like she wanted to be disturbed when she was training. While talking with the rest of them, I began to find out more about them. It turns out the name given to these merry band of misfits is 'The Furious Five'. They're apparently Kung Fu warriors who protect the 'Valley of Peace' and the other parts of China. I can see now why it's honour to train here. After an hour or so, the goose I saw yesterday and burst into hall panting.

"M-m-asters! Bandits in the Valley!" he manage to say through rapid breathes.

"Bandits? Come on guys, let's go!" Mantis shouted, rushing towards the door. Everyone else leapt off the training equipment and followed. Bandits? Damn..I don't know, I barely handled myself against one. There's gonna be more than one this time. I saw Viper about to leave, not before noticing me glued to the spot.

"Ben, what's wrong?" she asked.

"Viper, I...I'm not sure I can handle myself against more than one bandit." I replied.

"Hey, we're a team. We look out for each other and that includes you." she said. Which put me a little more at ease.

"Okay, let's do it then." I said. She nodded and left. I then followed behind. We caught up with the rest of them and sprinted down the stairway to heaven. Despite the fact that I was about to run into battle, I felt rather..excited. I've always fantasized about being a hero when I was a kid. Pretending to fight evil with a makeshift sword made out of cardboard. And to actually run into battle and fighting actually bandits? I couldn't help but feel a thrill running through my body. When we reached the bottom of the stairs, we noticed a store being robbed by a group of boars. There looked like there was around nine of them. As we sprinted forward, one boar turned and saw us coming.

"Oh bloody hell, lads! We got trouble!" he said. He seemed to have a British accent. After he called for his companions, they came out of the store with goods held under their arms. They dropped them and pulled out their weapons.

"Get em'!" one shouted, while they charged towards us. They began to swing their weapons wildly. The 'Five' began to fend off the bandits and one swung his ace at me. I leapt to the side dodging quickly and strike him in the nose. He stumbled back rubbing it painfully.

"Ow! You twat!" he shouted. He growled and swung his axe again. I dodged again and pitched his face. I then quickly grabbed the handle of his axe and pulled it from his grasp. I then kicked him into the stomach and then finished him off by kicking him straight into the face, knocking clean out. I stood there amazed at the fact that I managed to beat a guy who was carrying a deadly weapon. I was dazed for too long as I was unaware of another boar just about to bring his axe down on my head. I froze on the spot as I locked eyes with the axe at the last second just before it was about to kill me. Just then, the axe was blown out of the boars grasp by a thin tail. I then saw Viper jump up and bring her tail down on the boars head, introducing it to the ground. I thanked her quickly and then resumed fighting. Eventually, we had defeated all of the boars. They were all on the ground, moaning in pain.

"Well, that takes care of that." Mantis said, leaping on Monkeys shoulder.

"Off to prison for you guys." Monkey said. After the guards had arrived, we helped get the bandits to the guards outpost to put them in cells. We shoved them in cells and locked the doors.

"Oi mate! When do get out on bail?" one boar asked a nearby guard. Another boar face palmed and his comment.

"You stupid twat! We ain't gettin' out on bail." he said. The other boar then frowned.

"Oh bugger." he said sadly.

"Thank you, Masters." a guard said.

"Of course, we only want to keep the Valley safe." Crane said. We then turned to leave but hen bumped into Kai.

"Ah, I was told you all were here. I need you all to follow me." he said. He then led us into his office and sat down.

"I have a problem. The carriage carrying the criminals from yesterday hasn't returned yet. I have a feeling that it was attacked." he said.

"Are you sure? They could just be late back." Viper said.

"No, there not usually this late. I just know something's gone wrong." he said, worriedly.

"I take it the captain also has a feeling something's wrong?" Mantis asked, to which Kai nodded. I raised a brow confused.

"Wait, you're not the captain?" I asked. Kai shook his head,"Then who is?"

"That would be me." I heard a voice say behind me. We all turned the the sight of a female jaguar. She wore armour similar the Kai's except she seemed to be wearing a red neck scarf with black trims. She had her arms crossed and she didn't look too happy.

"I leave for five minuets and you've assumed the role as captain. Again." she said, shooting Kai a threatening gaze. He sighed.

"No I was just-"

"Keeping on eye on things? Of course you were. Just like you're keeping an eye out by sitting in my chair." she said. Kai rolled his as he got up from the chair and was shooed away by the jaguar. Kai then turned to me.

"Ben, I would like you to meet Jian, my-"

"Choose your words carefully, Kai." she warned.

"My...BEAUTIFUL wife, who I love dearly." he said, kissing her forehead.

"I suppose that should suffice," she said before turning to me, "So you're Ben? My good-for-nothing husband has told me about you. It's always nice to have newcomers in the Valley. Anyway it's a pleasure to meet you." she said.

"Likewise." I said.

"Back to business," she said, turning towards Kai, "Did you brief them?" she asked.

"Yes, love." he replied. Jian then turned back to us, placing her paws on the table in front of her.

"My soldiers usually run into trouble along the roads when transporting the undesirables, but they can handle themselves. Then they're usually back within a day. This time they've taken longer than usual. My gut tells me something's gone wrong. So I was hoping the Masters of the Jade Palace could help the guard." she explained.

"We'll help in anyway we can." Viper said.

"Thank you, Viper. Now, what I need is for you to travel the road the carriage was sent, then I-" Jian was cut short as a guard burst into the room.

"An urgent message for the captain." he announced, holding out a rolled up scroll with red ribbon keeping it closed. Jian then removed herself from her seat quickly and hurried over to him. She took the scroll and dismissed the soldier. She opened it with haste and began to read its contents. We all waited in silence for to finish to finish reading and when she did, she lowered it slowly and reveled a serious expression.

"I knew something happened." she said.

"What's wrong?" Kai asked.

"The carriage was attacked. We have to go and investigate." she replied.

"We'll come too and give you a hand." Crane said.

"Thank you. Now let's go, we have a long walk." Jian said, leading us all out of her office.


End file.
